Saturday, April 26, 2014

Unforgettable

Unforgettable airs Friday nights on CBS. It stars Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh. I think tonight was its fourth episode of season three.

It was also the first one to feature Jane Curtin prominently.

Why wasn't I writing about the show?

A few e-mails came in on that. I didn't see Jane at all in the first episode of season three. I also missed an episode due to a party. She had a minor scene last week but this one gave her something to do.

I like Dylan and Poppy's great but the show needs Jane as the medical examiner Joanne.

By the way, the episode that aired last night was a mini-3rd Rock From The Sun Reunion -- it had Wayne Knight as a guest star. He was also a medical examiner, in the Hamptons, where their latest case was, and his character and Joanne had a little flirtation going on. My favorite scene was Joanne on the phone getting excited to talk to him while Al was grilling fish and watching her. She got loud and realized he was watching so she immediately tried to play it cool . . . for about five seconds before deciding she didn't give a care. It was a really solid moment.

And that's why they need Curtin. She really makes these small moments come to life and it makes for a richer episode.

I thought it was a great episode and, if you watch it now (or if you can remember), not Carrie's blue shirt in her first scene on the beach. I loved that shirt. I want to buy it.

So Carrie is a woman who remembers everything. She's also a detective and Al is her partner. One time romantic partner but those days seem over (although when they were looking for a new apartment for him, it was clear the feelings are still there on both sides). Did I blog about that? I think I did.

I loved the show in its first season.

I liked it less season two (which was last summer).

I really didn't need all the action and all the tech. Season one, they were working in New York (Brooklyn?) doing basic homicides. Season two, they're in this super-department where they have all this tech and the mayor's ear (or his right hand's ear) and it just got to be too much.

Don't get me started on Action Carrie has fistacuffs with the Russian assassin.

Season three has been about getting back to the basics -- the characters, not hardware.

And it's been a solid run so far but this was the best episode.

Poppy's always great (she plays Carrie) and Dylan Walsh adds real gravity to what would otherwise be a tag-along role (he's Al).

But not only were they and Curtin great, I also really appreciated Tawny Cypress (Cherie) who joined the show in season two. This was her best work so far. James Hiroyuki Liao also joined in season two (he plays Jay). And I enjoy him because I love his speaking voice. I don't know if it's real or not but it adds another level to his character and it makes the dialogue so much more interesting.

By letting everyone go to the Hamptons, even if it was for a murder case, it let the characters kick back a bit and this was the first time Cherie got to be anything other than by-the-book.

Friday, April 25, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, a rally of a
terrorist group in Baghdad gets bombed, the US sends more Americans
into Iraq, campaign season heats up, Tareq al-Hashemi shares his
thoughts, and much more.

Mark Hosenball, Warren Strobel, Phil Stewart, Ned Parker, Jason Szep and Ross Colvin (Reuters) report, "The United States is quietly expanding the number of intelligence officers in Iraq
and holding urgent meetings in Washington and Baghdad to find ways to
counter growing violence by Islamic militants, U.S. government sources
said." It was 1961 when US President John F. Kennedy sent 1364
"advisors" into Vietnam. The next year, the number was just short of
10,000. In 1963, the number hit 15,500. You remember how this ends,
right?

The advisers get to participate in the War Crimes of chief thug and
prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. As he continues to bomb the residential
neighborhoods of Falluja, NINA notes four civilians were injured today. NINA reports:
"Fallujah Education Hospital announced on Friday that / 1418 / people
killed and injured in the city of Fallujah since the beginning of
military operations." That's 259 civilians killed and 1159 injured.
These are War Crimes, the term is "collective punishment." And the
bombings are aided by 'intel' provided by the US.

For example, many have fairly asked why Iraqi state television,
namely Al Iraqiya, airs the confessions of dozens of (Sunni)
terrorists but never of a (Shi‘i) militia commander? For that matter,
why
are diﬀerent terms applied to Sunni and Shi‘i militant groups, namely
terrorists and militias, if not to deny any moral equivalence between
them? A remarkable example of double standards is how the state deals
with the Mahdi Army and other Shi‘i militant groups: why is it that an
organization heavily involved in the civil war, and parts of which are
responsible for atrocious crimes, is allowed to hold public events and
rallies with state approval? And why is the extension of similar
courtesies
to any Sunni militants unthinkable? Such questions reinforce the
conviction that the new Iraq directly or otherwise targets Sunni Arabs.
Te
depth of Sunni feelings of encirclement is perhaps best illustrated in
the
claim made by some that they had personally seen banners in Baghdad on 9
April 2003 displaying the slogan “No Sunnis after today.”

Peter Moore and four other British citizens were kidnapped by the League
of Righteous. Of the other four, three corpses were turned over: Jason
Crewswell, Jason Swindelhurst and Alec Maclachlan in one handover.
Much, much later, the remains of of Alan McMenemy were handed over.
The kidnapping was mentioned in
the State Dept's "2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices:"

Five
British men (a computer expert and four bodyguards) were kidnapped in
2007. Peter Moore, the computer expert, was released unharmed on
December 30, while the bodies of three of the four bodyguards were
returned on June 19 and September 3 to the United Kingdom. The
whereabouts of the fifth man remained unknown at year's end. Fifteen
Americans, four South Africans, four Russian diplomats, and one
Japanese citizen who were abducted since 2003 remained missing. There
was no further information on the 2007 kidnapping of the Ministry of
Science and Technology acting undersecretary, Samir Salim al-Attar.

This morning the New York Times' Alissa J. Rubin and Michael Gordon offered "U.S. Frees Suspect in Killing of 5 G.I.'s." Martin Chulov (Guardian) covered the same story, Kim Gamel (AP) reported on it, BBC offered "Kidnap hope after Shia's handover" and Deborah Haynes contributed "Hope for British hostages in Iraq after release of Shia militant" (Times
of London). The basics of the story are this. 5 British citizens have
been hostages since May 29, 2007. The US military had in their custody
Laith al-Khazali. He is a member of Asa'ib al-Haq. He is also accused
of murdering five US troops. The US military released him and allegedly
did so because his organization was not going to release any of the
five British hostages until he was released. This is a big story and
the US military is attempting to state this is just diplomacy, has
nothing to do with the British hostages and, besides, they just released
him to Iraq. Sami al-askari told the New York Times, "This is a very
sensitive topic because you know the position that the Iraqi
government, the U.S. and British governments, and all the governments
do not accept the idea of exchanging hostages for prisoners. So we put
it in another format, and we told them that if they want to participate
in the political process they cannot do so while they are holding
hostages. And we mentioned to the American side that they cannot join
the political process and release their hostages while their leaders are
behind bars or imprisoned." In other words, a prisoner was traded for
hostages and they attempted to not only make the trade but to lie to
people about it. At the US State Dept, the tired and bored reporters
were unable to even broach the subject. Poor declawed tabbies. Pentagon
reporters did press the issue and got the standard line from the
department's spokesperson, Bryan Whitman, that the US handed the
prisoner to Iraq, the US didn't hand him over to any organization --
terrorist or otherwise. What Iraq did, Whitman wanted the press to know,
was what Iraq did. A complete lie that really insults the intelligence
of the American people. CNN reminds the five US soldiers killed "were:
Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, California; 1st Lt. Jacob N.
Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Nebraska; Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of
Gonzales, Louisiana; Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, New York;
and Pfc. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Alabama." Those are
the five from January 2007 that al-Khazali and his brother Qais
al-Khazali are supposed to be responsible for the deaths of. Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Robert H. Reid (AP) states
that Jonathan B. Chism's father Danny Chism is outraged over the
release and has declared, "They freed them? The American military did?
Somebody needs to answer for it."

Festooned around the stadium were banners bearing the names and faces of
the men the group had lost in Syria, more than 80 names in all. Men in
militia uniforms -- green camouflage with Asaib Ahl al-Haq patches on the
sleeves -- some just back from the battlefield in Syria, lined the track
surrounding the soccer field. As the group’s parliamentary candidates
filed into the stadium, a campaign song played through scratchy stereo
speakers.

Jane Arraf (PBS NewsHour) notes:Its leader, Qais al-Khazali, spent more than two years in U.S.
detention, believed by the U.S. to have organized and ordered the
killing of five American soldiers in Karbala in 2007. He and other
leaders of the Iranian-backed militant group were later released in what
was believed to be a swap for a captured British contractor and the
bodies of his slain security guards. Rehabilitated and rebranded, the
group has emerged as a political party, running candidates in the
elections for the first time.

Rehabilitated by whom, Jane? A lazy press? Believed to be a trade?
Months after the hand off of Moore and the three corpses, the League
went to the Iraqi press to explain why Alan McMenemy wasn't handed over:
the White House didn't keep their promise. And this rehab? The US
Dept of Treasury didn't think so. This is their press release on Qais al-Khazali -- read it and look for 'rehabilitated':

Treasury Designates Hizballah Commander Responsible for American Deaths in Iraq

11/19/2012

WASHINGTON --
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Ali Mussa Daqduq
al-Musawi (Daqduq) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 for acting
on behalf of Hizballah. Daqduq is a senior Hizballah commander
responsible for numerous attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq,
including planning an attack on the Karbala Joint Provincial
Coordination Center (JPCC) on January 20, 2007, which resulted in the
deaths of five U.S. soldiers.

On March
20, 2007, Coalition Forces in southern Iraq captured Daqduq, who falsely
claimed to be a deaf mute at the time and produced a number of false
identity cards using a variety of aliases. From January 2009 until
December 2011, U.S. military forces held Daqduq in Iraq under the terms
of the 2008 "Agreement Between the United States of America and the
Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and
the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in
Iraq" (the Security Agreement). In December 2011, the United States
transferred Daqduq to Iraq's custody in accordance with our obligations
under the Security Agreement. He was subsequently tried in Iraq on
terrorism and other charges. On May 7, 2012, an Iraqi court dismissed
terrorism and false documents charges against him. Daqduq remained in
Iraqi custody until last week when the Iraqi government determined that
it no longer had a legal basis to hold him, and he was released
Friday.

"Ali Mussa Daqduq al-Musawi is a
dangerous Hizballah operative responsible for planning and carrying out
numerous acts of terrorism in Iraq," said Under Secretary for Terrorism
and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. "The United States is
extremely disappointed he was allowed to go free and we will continue
our efforts to bring him to justice."

Today's
action further highlights the fact that Hizballah's terrorist
activities stretch beyond the borders of Lebanon. These terrorist acts
are in some cases funded, coordinated, and carried out in concert with
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Hizballah,
along with its Iranian allies, trained and advised Iraqi militants to
carry out numerous terrorist attacks against Coalition and Iraqi forces.

Daqduq
has been a member of Hizballah since 1983 and has served in multiple
Hizballah leadership positions, including as commander of a Hizballah
special forces unit and chief of a protective detail for Hizballah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

In
approximately 2005, Iran asked Hizballah to form a group to train Iraqis
to fight Coalition Forces in Iraq. In response, Hassan Nasrallah
established a covert Hizballah unit to train and advise Iraqi militants
in Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) and JAM Special Groups, now known as Asa'ib Ahl
al-Haq.

As of 2006, Daqduq had been ordered
by Hizballah to work with IRGC-QF to provide training and equipment to
JAM Special Groups to augment their ability to inflict damage against
U.S. troops.

Al Jazeera notes of the League of Righteous, "Its leader, Sheik Qais al-Khazali, spent years in U.S. detention but
was released after he was handed over to the Iraqi government. At the
rally Friday, he gave a brief address that challenged militants holding
two cities in Anbar province." And when the bombs went off?

Did he show leadership, this 'brave' leader? Did he tend to the hurt, call for calm? No. Al Jazeera notes
the little princess turned tail and ran, "Security guards jumped on
al-Khazali and pushed him away from the stadium after the blasts." What
a little princess. Just like when he got caught by coalition forces
and claimed he was deaf. Gulf Times reports the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has announced they carried out the
attack and that the leader of the League of Rightous (which ISIL called
"the League of the Vain") had spoken to the assembled just before the
attack and had boasted, "To all ISIL . . . we are ready. We are
prepared. We are the defenders of this country. You will never reach
us." And then came the attack and the little princess was rushed out of
the stadium instead of standing like a leader and offering help. Reuters notes the speech as follows:[. . .] Sheik Qais Khazaali, had just delivered a speech accusing some
politicians of aiding terrorism and vowed his movement was ready for any
action by ISIS."To all ISIS... we are ready. We are prepared," he said."We are the defenders of this country. If ISIS is the sickness, were are the medicine."

We are prepared . . . We are defenders . . . I must be rushed out of
here by my security detail because I'm such a delicate flower and have
no leadership skills.

Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) report, "Attendees fled to a nearby building under construction in the stadium
complex as female parliamentary candidates screamed and prayed for
safety." Citing an unnamed Ministry of the Interior official as the source, Sky News reports the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Ammar al-Hakim was present in the stadium.

Al Jazeera says
10,000 people were in the stadium. And that Sheik Qais al-Khazali spoke
at the gathering and insulted Sunnis. al-Khazali was in US custody but
Barack Obama decided to negotiate with terrorists so Peter Moore and
four corpses could be released to England. America's president likes to
say he thought Nouri al-Maliki was going to prosecute al-Khazali but
even Barack can't be that dumb. And certainly Congress was raising objections. Dropping back to November 19, 2012:

And many senators were calling for Daqduq to be brought to the United
States and tried. Instead, in 2011, the White House turned him over to
Iraq and received 'promises' regarding Daqduq's fate.
'Promises" turned out not be all that. As noted in Friday's snapshot, " Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reports that the rumors Ali Musa Daqduq had been released from Iraqi custody are true (see Wednesday's snapshot). It's a huge embarrassment for the White House. Victoria Nuland, State Dept spokesperson, was asked about it in today's press briefing." Michael R. Gordon (New York Times) reported Friday:In a phone call on Tuesday, Vice President
Joseph R. Biden Jr. told the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki,
that the United States believed that Mr. Daqduq should be held
accountable for his actions and that Iraq should explore all legal options toward this end, an American official said.
Robert S. Beecroft, the United States ambassador in Baghdad, made a
similar appeal to Mr. Maliki that day. But Mr. Maliki told Mr. Biden
that Iraq had run out of legal options to hold Mr. Daqduq, who this year
had been ordered released by an Iraqi court.Julian E. Barnes (Wall St. Journal) reminds
that when the White House announced their plan to hand Daqduq over to
Iraq, many members of Congress objected before the transfer took place,
"Ms. [Senator Kelly] Ayotte and 18 other Senators called on U.S.
officials not to hand
him over to Iraq, but the Iraqi government insisted on taking him into
custody."

In supporting Asaib al-Haq, Mr. Maliki has apparently made the risky
calculation that by backing some Shiite militias, even in secret, he can
maintain control over the country’s restive Shiite population and,
ultimately, retain power after the next national elections, which are
scheduled for next year. Militiamen and residents of Shiite areas say
members of Asaib al-Haq are given government badges and weapons and
allowed freedom of movement by the security forces.

They're terrorists. The League of Righteous is terrorist. You can step
back and argue that with regards to British and American forces, they
were at war. (You don't have to step back, if you don't want to.) But
they are terrorists on the government payroll to terrorize the Sunni
population in Iraq.

And if you don't step back, you should grasp that the US had placed
al-Khazali in military prison and the plan was to put him on trial -- US
military trial -- for his killing of 5 US service members. But Barack
decided to let him go. Maybe Barack can fly to Baghdad and campaign for
him?

There were at least three bombs Al Jazeera says 31 people are dead and fifty-six more injured. Mu Xuequan (Xinhua) updates the numbers to 33 dead and ninety injured. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports, "A car bomb first hit the gathering. It was followed by a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest." EFE notes, "Some of the fatalities belonged to the group handling electoral
publicity for the Sadequn alliance, whose candidates will run for office
in the legislative elections next Wednesday."

All Iraqi-born people living in the U.S. are eligible to vote, the
Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce announced today. Locally,
eligible voters can cast their ballots on April 27-28 at the Crystal
Ballroom, 414 North Magnolia Avenue in El Cajon from 12-2 p.m.

Al Jazeera offers a photo essay on the campaign posters and other voting issues. We'll note this Tweet on the elections.

DPA notes, "Despite the ongoing bloodshed, Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is
seeking to win a third term in office in the April 30 vote." All Iraq News notes
that MP Bahaa al-Araji (Ahrar bloc) stated the government was
responsible for providing security but instead "the governmental and
security officials are busy with their electoral propagandas leaving the
country towards the unknown."

David Ignatius (Washington Post) offers:How did such catastrophic violence return to Iraq? That’s really the
saddest part of the story. The United States helped engineer Maliki’s
reelection as prime minister in 2010. But once the Americans had left,
Maliki’s government foolishly created a vacuum that allowed Sunni
extremists to take root again in western Iraq after they had been
crushed by the U.S.-backed tribal movement called the Sahwa, or
“Awakening.” Zaydan’s cousin, Sheik Sattar Abu Risha, was one of
the Sahwa’s founders. But when Maliki reneged on promises to keep paying
the tribesmen, they turned elsewhere for support. Now, with Anbar in
revolt, Maliki has tried to revive the Sahwa network, offering fighters
as much $400 a month to back the government. But it’s probably too late.
“That ship has sailed,” says the Pentagon expert.

The ship has sailed and, in fact, sunk. Iraq has a prime minister:
Nouri al-Maliki. It also has a president. At least in name. December
2012, Iraqi
President Jalal
Talabani suffered a stroke. The incident took place late on December
17, 2012 following Jalal's argument with Iraq's prime minister and chief
thug Nouri al-Maliki (see the December 18, 2012 snapshot). Jalal was admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital. Thursday, December 20, 2012,
he was moved to Germany. He remains in Germany currently.

Iraq's missing more than just a president. It has a vice president,
Khodair al-Khozaei. He's the Shi'ite Vice President and he is in Iraq.
He is one of the country's two vice presidents. The other?

Tareq al-Hashemi is the Sunni Vice President and he is not in Iraq.
We'll note this from Anthony H. Cordesman and Sam Khazai's "Iraq in Crisis:"

The Hashimi case
quickly escalated into a major political crisis
in December 2011,
only
days after
the US occupation ended.
Vice President Hashimi was leader of the largest
Sunni
coa
lition,
the
Iraqi Accord Front
, whose most powerful faction was the
Iraqi Isla
mic Party
(IIP). He had
supported a unified Iraq, but was one of the Sunnis who had withdrawn from the 2005 election,
had called for oil revenues to be distributed based on population, had opposed
de-Ba'athification
as often arbitrary and unjust, and want stronger Sunni representation in the Iraqi Security Forces.
He had argued that Sunni and other
provinces could individually take the decision whether or not
to form federal regions, and some reports indicated that
he had tried in 2006 to form a multiparty
coalition to replace Maliki. Hashimi had
become a symbol of Sunni opposition to Maliki during 2011, and it was far from
clear that this opposition did not involve some form of conspiracy against
Maliki
.
A wide range of
open sources show, however, that
Maliki
acted first.
199
While the full range of fact in the case is
unclear, and media sources are contradictory, it does seem clear that Maliki sent Iraqi security
forces to arrest him and they surrounded his house in the Green Zone on December 15, 2011. At
least two of his bodyguards were attacked and beaten and five
more were arrested
and interrogated
under conditions that were suspect at best. Hashimi
was ordered not to
travel abroad and -- in what became something of a model of the kind
of charges Maliki was to use in the future -- Iraq's Judicial Council issued an arrest warrant for him
on December 19, 2011.
The warrant came only a day after the last US combat forces officially left
Iraq, and the charges were very broad. They accused Hashimi of
organizing bombing attacks, as
participating in terrorist activities, controlling an assassination squad, and killing senior Shi’ite
officials.
They were based on confessions
obtained from his bodyguards, and five more of them
were arrested on the day the warrant was issued. Hashimi denied all the charge the next day, having fled to Irbil in the Kurdish Regional
Government the day before the warrant was issued, leading some sources to believe Maliki had
given him warning in an effort to drive him out of the country, rather than hold an embarrassing
show trial that would lead to his actual imprisonment and make him more of a Sunni martyr. The
risks involved are illustrated by the
fact that
the Sunni Iraqiyya party
had
91 seats in
the Majlis
and began a
boycott
of the Majlis that virtually froze it operation. This boycott
ended
in late
January 2012
, but only after the
US Embassy made
intense efforts to end it without publically
taking a stand on the charges. The
Iraqi Ministry of Interior
called for the
Interior Ministry
of the KRG
to extradite Hashimi to
Baghdad
on January 8th
2012
.
By that time, Hashimi
had said that
53
of his bodyguards and
employees had been
arrested. Hashimi responded by demanding to be tried in
Kirkuk, but a court
in Baghdad rejected his demand on January 15, 2012.
In
February 2012
,
a
panel of Iraqi judges
accused him of directing paramilitary teams to conduct more than 150 attacks during 2006
-
2012
against political opponents, Iraqi security officials -- including a Shi’ite brigadier general
--
and
Shi’ite pilgrims. Massoud Barzani
,
president
of the KRG, formally rejected
Baghdad’s demand for extradition
in
M
arch 2012.
The fact Kurdish leaders protected
Hashimi -- in addition to conflicts between the
KRG and central government over oil concessions and finances -- raised tensions to the point where Kurdish Regional Government
(KRG) leader Massoud Barzani threatened to separate the KRG
from Iraq during his visit to Washington in April 2012. Hashimi
continued to deny
all charges and claimed constitutional immunity
. He then left Iraq to
visit
Qatar,
Saudi Arabia
and
Turkey, and did so in his official capacity
as vice president of Iraq.
Hashimi
claimed in an interview in Al-Jazeera on April 4, 2012 that accusations that he ran a death
squad “have a sectarian dimension.” He claimed that he was the “fifth Sunni figure
to be targeted”
by the Shia-led government, and that, “More than 90
percent of the detainees in Iraq are Sunnis.”
al-Hashimi
said he would return to Iraq to carry out his vice presidential duties, despite Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s demands that he face trial. He also claimed -- with considerable accuracy
--
that, “Corruption in the country is widespread,”
that the prime minister’s policies were undermining "the unity of Iraq," that al-Maliki’s
government was giving "military assistance" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. "There
is information about Iraqi militias fighting alongside the Syrian regime," al-Hashimi
told Al-Jazeera. He also stated that there were "unconfirmed reports that Iraq’s airspace was being used to
help [Assad’s] regime," and hinted at Iranian involvement. The KRG allowed
Hashimi to travel to Qatar to meet with Sheikh
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
,
on what the Qatari administration described as an official diplomatic visit
on April 1, 201
2.
Hussain al
-
Shahristani,
Iraq’s
Deputy
Prime Minister
,
then attacked the visit
and called for
Hashimi to be handed over
to
the
Iraqi central
government
.
Qatar
refused the request
and
Hashimi
then travelled
to Saudi Arabia and met with Saudi Foreign Minister
Prince Saud Al Faisal.
Several
days later,
he went to Turkey with his family. Iraq
Interpol
issue
a
red notice
for his arrest
on May
8, 2012.
The Turkish government
rejected a request for extradition and
granted
him
residence
permit A show trial then followed in May 2012, in which Hashimi and his son-in-law
--
Ahmed Qahtan,
his secretary
--
were tried in absentia. The charges now included murder and well over 100 charges
of involvement in terrorist attacks after 2003. A number of Hashimi's bodyguards "confessed" that
he had personally ordered them to perform the attacks.
Hashimi and Ahmed Qahtan were sentenced to death in absentia on
September
plotting
to
assassinate Interior Ministry official
, and
again sentenced in absentia to death.
He was then
sentenced in absentia to death three
more times in December 2012.
While Iraqi politics had
remained a blood sport throughout the US occupation, the sheer volume of the charges and the
way the confessions were obtained scarcely gave the trials great credibility. As for Hashimi he
remained in exile, now the Sunni
martyr that Maliki initially seemed to have tried to avoid.

Do you believe that the upcoming elections will reflect the will of all Iraqis?

The major demand of the Iraqi people and the key issue is simply
change. The upcoming election, however, is insufficient to fulfill this
mission. Nori al-Maliki's endeavor to consolidate absolute power is the
major threat. In order to achieve this and win the elections, al-Maliki
is expected to manipulate the elections through fraud and cheating.Taking this into consideration, even if proven to be conducted as per
international standards, there is no guarantee that the winning party is
going to form the government - I am specifically referring to the 2010
elections. Generally speaking and taking into account the complexity and
range of challenges we are faced with, I am not optimistic about the
upcoming elections. What we need more right now is for the election to
first stop the ongoing deterioration and to recourse the political
process and put it back to on its democratic track.

Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has told the BBC that Saudi Arabia has "clearly interfered" in Syria and in Iraqi internal affairs.

He said he believed Saudi Arabia was facilitating the entry
of foreign "mercenaries" into Iraq, worsening the sectarian violence.

Mr Maliki said the violence in Syria was causing "security problems" in Iraq's Anbar province.

Wait a second, the League of Rightous holds a campaign rally in Baghdad today where they brag about fighting in Syria and, as AFP noted earlier this week, Faleh al-Khazali is running on Nouri's State of Law address and bragging about how he's gone to Syria to fight Sunnis.

Nouri's never been able to prove his longstanding accusations against
Saudi Arabia but while he's making charges that others are interfering
with Iraq, Shi'ites are publicly bragging about interfering in Syria
including Faleh al-Khazali who is part of Nouri's State of Law
coalition.